Reader Kat first emailed me last year, sending me one of the most lovely and uplifting messages I’ve ever received from a stranger. She nicknamed me IGgy (which stands for Idea Goddess *blush*) and explained that while she was still waiting for her ring after 5 years, she was already a Broke-Ass convert. I’ve always appreciated how supportive and positive she has been as a fan, and I could definitely relate to her lady-in-waiting status, so when her long-time boyfriend Mark reached out for help in planning the perfect proposal for her, I was jumping for joy!

Here’s a snippet of what Mark wrote me in June:You don’t know me but my girlfriend really knows you. The lovely lady I speak of is Katrina, she has diligently followed your blog and I believe has left you many posts. She has watched from afar and cheered you on through the internet and made sure I was kept abreast of all things…. That leads my to the purpose of this message. I am trying to find a unique way to propose to her. I have come up with a ton of ways but all of them fall short of making it magical (as sappy as it sounds). A good example is what you guys did with your video. A creative way of telling her what I feel but I need help…. any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Mark was actually very well-prepared already with some great ideas, so we decided that the best help I could give was to drop a subtle hint just before he did it. When I saw Kat comment on the hinty post I couldn’t stop smiling, so happy she saw it before her big day!

Here is the story of how it all went down, from Kat’s perspective:Dear IGgy,

Thank you so much for helping my sweet, adorable FEE-AHN-SAY (tee hee!) completely surprise me and make this the most memorable weekend of my life! I can’t tell you how awesome and perfect and well…utterly dreamy this whole birthday/engagement weekend was…

The surprises started on my birthday, Saturday morning, and they just didn’t stop coming!

I woke up at dark o’ clock to go to kickboxing practice—which was ESPECIALLY hard thanks to the merlot my friend and I had shared the night before (glued to wedding blogs—she’s getting married in March). We sipped our wine, and, of course stopped by Chateau le Broke-Ass and I even showed her the comment I had made congratulating the “lucky girl” who would be receiving her ring this weekend. Little did I know…!

So, there I was, Saturday morning, brushing my teeth and so NOT feeling my inner Jillian when Mark came and in and said, “what do ya say we skip practice and work today—in fact what do ya say we go up to the mountains?” He suggested we pack the tent in case we decided to spend the night up there camping.

Now, martial arts is fun an’ all (in fact, that’s how we met about eight years ago) but it didn’t take much arm-twisting to get me to ditch my class and start packing up the SUV for Big Bear.

Yep, that’s us (I’m the one with the pony tail).

A little over an hour after we left home, we were driving through the cute little Village up in Big Bear. I kept thinking that we were going to head around the lake to the campground so imagine my surprise when we turned into a beautiful resort! Source (Sorry it’s a little blurry)

Now although Mark had led me to believe that we were “going camping”, he had cleverly suggested we bring some “dressy” clothes for a nice birthday dinner. After relaxing a little bit, we got ready and headed to town for dinner at our favorite Big Bear restaurant…

After a delicious dinner, we returned with happy tummies to the resort for some champagne and green tea ice cream.I am such a creature of comfort, I changed into my pajamas, but my sweet man was just sitting there on the loveseat in his dress shirt, and I remember thinking it was funny that he would stay in his dress shirt for that long (he’s even more of a creature of comfort than me!).That’s when he opened the champagne, and asked me to come sit down beside him. He turned on the TV and this is what he showed me…

After that last frame he pulled a little blue box out and opened it…

Le Sigh….

He told me he had been planning this for about 8 months! I couldn’t stop laughing when he said that he wrote to you about his plans—and I thought of your post that I had even commented on! But the wonderful surprises didn’t stop there—he told me that we should get to bed early because the next morning we would be going zip-lining!

Totally fun! Try it if you get the chance! (Note the “look at my left hand” pose-giggle)

And still, later in the afternoon, I didn’t know it, but he had set up a surprise birthday and engagement party with our good friends and family!

I am on cloud nine, IGgy—I still keep staring at my ring and my face hurts from smiling so much! This weekend was more than any gal could ask for and I can’t tell you how happy my adorable guy has made me. Thank you again for being a part of my memorable weekend, and big hugs to all the other gals out there who have been waiting for their rings. The wait is worth it, sweet friends! I wish for all of you to have an experience as special as mine…

Awwww, Congrats, Kat & Mark! I’m so happy for you both! Thanks for letting me participate in such a special occasion, and for sharing your story here. Can’t wait to hear how the wedding plans come along!

Dana is the head woman in charge here, the original Broke-Ass Bride. Learn more about her here. And, follow her on Twitter (@brokeassbride), Pinterest (@brokeassbride), Facebook (/thebrokeassbride) and Instagram (@brokeassbride). Affiliate links, which might be included in the post above, help make her a few dollars here and there to keep her off the streets and in the business of blogging for your ass. So thanks for coming! :)

What a sweet, sweet story! You are so lucky to be a part of someones special day like that!

Kat

Anonymous: The singer is Sondre Lerche and the song is "Modern Nature" on the album Faces Down.Thanks You Guys! Can't stop staring at my new sparkly and smiling!

girliesttomboy

i am new here and happy to say I am the girlfriend of Kats getting married in March. I was a small part of that fabuoulous weekend. Little did Kat know that I was in on the big surprise. Do you have any idea how difficult is to keep a secret like that to your best girl???? argh….. (if you knew me,you'd say wow Regina, I'm shocked you kept your mouth shut) Now Kat and I get to wedding plan together! And lucky me, she will be one of my bridesmaids. I must say she is an amazing woman and I couldn't be more happy for her and Mark. Congrats to my bestest friends…

Red

So cute!!! Congrats!

Miss Mojito

Yay! This was a story I was definately waiting to hear! So cute… loved it 🙂

everours

what a fantabulous proposal!

XOXO

Super sweet story

Jennifer {Bridal Inq

Awwww, that was such a great proposal! Congrats!!!

Amy Jo

What a great proposal! Puts a smile on my face too. Congrats Kat & Mark!

{The Perfect Palette

cute. congrats!

Theresa

That proposal is so sweet! What a great story, thanks Kat for sending it so we can all share! 🙂

BlackEyedP

gosh. i just love it when I cry at strangers getting engaged:) that was a wonderful way to do it….best wishes for you two!

ablogofherown

Just a little FYI, but I'm currently doing a segment on my blog (on Fridays) where I feature proposal stories of bloggers. I'd love to feature this some Friday in the future (and any other brides-to-be or married bloggers out there who want to tell their engagement story!):-)Cute cute cute.